By Binta Jaiteh
The Association of Public and Environmental Health Officers Gambia (APEHOG) has announced its readiness to strike if government fails to settle their unpaid allowance before May 5 2023.
Speaking at a press conference held at Lika’s Restaurant, president of the association, Nget said after some follow-ups with the Director of the Human Resource for health at Ministry of Health, they were reliably informed that their request was forwarded to PMO for onward review and action.
“The executive and entire memberships are strongly concerned over the long silence of the PMO upon receipt of the requested information from HR, MOH while we all provide same services to the population. We might seem to have been seen differently and treated differently than our sister cadres which the General orders and civil services code of conduct does not support,” he said.
He explained, “In early 2021, the Ministry of Health proposed to create a specific allowance for the Health Minister, PHD holders and medical doctors serving the Ministry of Health. This we believe was very discriminatory and had caused unprecedented chaos not only within the public health cadre but within the entire Ministry of Health.”
According to him, the decision came as a shock to the cadre and since then a host of avenues have been explored for the inclusion of other cadres into the new allowance scheme.
This, he disclosed that the leadership of the association deemed fitting to collaborate with other sister cadres who are been unfairly excluded from the new allowance scheme. He added that the association first letter was addressed to the Secretary General and Head of Civil Service dated 2nd March 2021, the association in collaboration with the National Pharmacy Staff Association (NPSA) highlighted their dissatisfaction regarding the bizarre decision.
“However, we would like to express that the APEHOG in its entirety is highly concerned about this unjust treatment and hope that a consensus can be reached to avoid any disruption to services. While we wait on tangible feedback from the health authorities, we will endeavor to keep all our members calm and focused to deliver quality health care services to our people,” he said.
In conclusion, in such times threats and intimidations are inevitable, “therefore, we must stay strong and focus on the ultimate goal.”
